cherry-ripe
CHERRY-RIPE
Cherry-ripe, ripe, ripe, I cry,
Full and fair ones ; come and buy.
If so be you ask me where
They do grow, I answer : There,
Where my Julia’s lips do smile ;
There’s the land, or cherry-isle,
Whose plantations fully show
All the year where cherries grow.
You know it is almost summer, when the cherries are in season. It is after a long winter, and a quick spring, when the first fruit of the year becomes available. It is therefore, little wonder that this little red fruit enjoys a popularity not rivaled my many.
And it is almost with religious dedication the first cherry cake is baked. The purist will insist that pits are left inside, but for me, a real cherry cake has to have PITTED cherries. It shows the genuine dedication towards a process, that will be repeated many times during the year with a large variety of delectable fruits of the garden.
For this very purpose I have shipped my very own cherry pitter half way around the world. (Believe it or not. In a country like ours here, with an abundance of cherries, I could not find one here.)
Now without further delay, here is my version of a simple cherry treat:
CHERRY CAKE
Ingredients for cake:
175 g brown sugar
200 g salted butter
3 pc whole eggs
40 g marzipan
zest of lemon
155 g flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
pinch of salt
75 g chopped walnuts
75 g chopped cooking chocolate
700 g fresh cherries
Instructions:
Pre-heat the oven to 180 C
Butter a 22 cm cake spring-form and dust with flour
Pitt the cherries and set aside
In a mixing bowl combine the sugar, butter, marzipan and lemon zest
Cream until mixture becomes pale in color
Add one egg at the time
Clean the sides of the mixing bowl after adding each egg
In a separate bowl combine all dry ingredients
When butter mixture is creamy add the dry ingredients by hand
Place the pitted cherries at the bottom of the cake spring-form
Make sure the cherries are tightly packed in one layer
Poor the cake mixture on top and spread evenly
Place in the oven on the middle rack
Bake for about 40-50 min, or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean
Let the cake cool until just look-warm
Turn out onto a serving plate
Dust with sugar
Serve with vanilla ice cream, or just as it is
